Rockies News

Arenado belts 20th homer as Rox stay hot

By
Ben WeinribMLB.com

DENVER -- Rockies star third baseman Nolan Arenado got heated in the dugout 11 days ago, as the team was not playing up to its potential. Now the Rockies have won four straight and eight of 10, including Wednesday's 6-3 victory over the Yankees, and are tied with the Rays for the Majors' best mark during that stretch.

"We're always confident no matter what streaks we're going through," Arenado said after Colorado capped a 5-1 homestand. "This group is different than any group I've been with in the past. Any time we're going through a losing streak, everyone acts the same. We win, we act the same. It's been a lot of fun."

DENVER -- Rockies star third baseman Nolan Arenado got heated in the dugout 11 days ago, as the team was not playing up to its potential. Now the Rockies have won four straight and eight of 10, including Wednesday's 6-3 victory over the Yankees, and are tied with the Rays for the Majors' best mark during that stretch.

"We're always confident no matter what streaks we're going through," Arenado said after Colorado capped a 5-1 homestand. "This group is different than any group I've been with in the past. Any time we're going through a losing streak, everyone acts the same. We win, we act the same. It's been a lot of fun."

Arenado continued his strong campaign, hitting his 20th homer and knocking in three runs to push his total to 57 as part of a 2-for-5 day.

The Rockies are averaging 6.2 runs per game over their last 10 -- up from their season average of 5.2 per game -- and have held opponents to 3.7 runs per game -- down from their season average of 5.2 runs per game.

"The common denominator is usually pitching well," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "I like our bullpen, our starting pitching, I think, is more talented than it's been. It's deeper. It starts there. I think offensively we're doing some things. There was a lull for a little while. I had a meeting with our guys about getting back to the things that make us effective offensively. I think they did a nice job of that -- certainly the last couple games."

Taking care of business at home was important to the club, which entered the homestand 10-15 at Coors Field. The only winning homestand in the previous four was a sweep of the Mets in mid-May.

The Rockies (32-33) sit one game below .500 with 10 games ahead of them against the Marlins, Yankees and D-backs, who own a combined .472 winning percentage. If they continue their hot play, they could quickly make up ground in the National League West, where they trail the Giants by eight games.

"I've been saying to our club for a while now that I feel like this team is going to get better as the year goes on, which has not been the trend here the last few years," Weiss said. "This team is set up to get better and better as the year goes on. And that's a trend we're seeing right now. We're playing better. We're not perfect yet -- far from it, but we're playing good baseball."